CN110720211A - Capture both short and long exposure data using the same pixels for HDR images and video - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention describes systems and methods for performing HDR imaging. Aspects of the present disclosure may include camera systems that capture both short-exposure pixel data and long-exposure pixel data using the same pixels, which improves camera hardware efficiency and pixel efficiency, and reduces power consumption of the camera system.

Description

Capture short exposure data and long exposures using the same pixels for HDR images and video data both

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of the following patent application: "USING THE SAME PIXELS TOCAPTURE BOTH SHORT AND LONG USING THE SAME PIXELS TOCAPTURE BOTH SHORT AND LONG EXPOSURE DATA FOR HDR IMAGE AND VIDEO)" U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/524,300; and filed Feb. 08, 2018, entitled "Using the Same Pixels to Capture Both Short-Exposure Data and Long-Exposure Data for HDR Image and Video USING THE SAME PIXELS TO CAPTURE BOTHSHORT AND LONG EXPOSURE DATA FOR HDR IMAGE AND VIDEO", the disclosures of both of which are in full text for all applicable purposes This reference is incorporated herein as if fully set forth below.

technical field

Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to high dynamic range (HDR) imaging. More specifically, certain aspects of the techniques discussed below relate to capturing both short exposure data and long exposure data using the same pixels for HDR images and video.

Background technique

To capture HDR images and videos, multiple exposures of the images are often combined. Typically, short exposure pixel data is combined with long exposure pixel data. Because capture devices such as camera systems that are used to obtain both short-exposure pixel data and long-exposure pixel data typically typically have a limited maximum pixel resolution, a typically limited maximum number of pixels can be used to obtain short-exposure pixel data and long-exposure pixel data pixel data. Therefore, efficient use of pixels and exposure by the camera system is necessary to obtain high quality images and video without using considerable hardware resources and power.

Some conventional camera systems obtain short- and long-exposure data by: (a) dedicating a first set of pixels (eg, half of the largest available pixels) to short-exposure data and dedicating a second set of pixels that differ from the first set of pixels Pixels (eg, the remaining half of the largest available pixel) are dedicated to long exposure data, (b) exposing a first set of pixels for a short time to obtain short exposure data, and (c) exposing a second set of pixels for a longer time to obtain short exposure data Get long exposure data. Other conventional camera systems obtain short exposure data and long exposure data by: (a) dedicating a first set of pixel rows to short exposure data and dedicating a second set of pixel rows different from the first set of pixel rows to long exposures data, (b) exposing the first set of pixel rows for a short time to obtain short exposure data, and (c) exposing the second set of pixel rows for a longer time to obtain long exposure data.

Conventional camera systems have many disadvantages. For example, in conventional camera systems, pixels or rows of pixels dedicated to obtaining short exposure data of an image are not used to obtain long exposure data of an image, and pixels or rows of pixels dedicated to obtaining long exposure data of an image are not used to obtain an image of short-exposure data. Therefore, after combining short exposure data and long exposure data, the maximum resolution achievable with such conventional camera systems is about half the total number of pixels available, since only about half the pixels or rows of pixels are used to obtain short exposure data, The other half of the pixels or pixel rows are used to obtain long exposure data. Therefore, to obtain the desired resolution of an HDR image, up to twice as many pixels are required for the desired resolution. Such results are not only inefficient, but also require more power consumption and more hardware resources, thus resulting in higher costs. Therefore, conventional camera systems are suboptimal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Some aspects of the present disclosure are summarized below to provide a basic understanding of the technology discussed. This summary is not an extensive overview of all covered features of the disclosure and is neither intended to identify key or critical elements of all aspects of the disclosure, nor is it intended to delineate the scope of any or all aspects of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of the disclosure in a summary form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method of HDR imaging is provided. The method may include initiating, by the processor, exposure of a plurality of pixels available in the device. The method may also include capturing, by the processor, pixel data from the plurality of pixels to obtain short exposure pixel data after a first period of time. The method may additionally include capturing, by the processor, pixel data from the plurality of pixels to obtain long exposure pixel data after a second period of time that is longer than the first period of time.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus configured to perform HDR imaging is provided. For example, the apparatus may include means for initiating exposure of a plurality of pixels available in the device. The apparatus may also include means for capturing pixel data from the plurality of pixels to obtain short exposure pixel data after a first period of time. The apparatus may additionally include means for capturing pixel data from the plurality of pixels to obtain long exposure pixel data after a second period of time that is longer than the first period of time.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium having program code recorded thereon for performing HDR imaging. The program code may comprise program code executable by a computer to cause the computer to initiate exposure of a plurality of pixels available in a device. The program code may also include program code executable by a computer to cause the computer to capture pixel data from the plurality of pixels to obtain short exposure pixel data after a first period of time. The program code may additionally include program code executable by a computer to cause the computer to capture pixel data from the plurality of pixels to obtain long exposure pixel data after a second period of time that is longer than the first period of time.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus configured to perform HDR imaging is provided. The apparatus includes a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory. The at least one processor may be configured to initiate exposure of a plurality of pixels available in the device. The at least one processor may also be configured to capture pixel data from the plurality of pixels to obtain short exposure pixel data after a first period of time has elapsed. The at least one processor may be further configured to capture pixel data from the plurality of pixels to obtain long exposure pixel data after a second period of time that is longer than the first period of time.

Other aspects, features, and embodiments of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific exemplary embodiments of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. While features of the invention may be discussed with respect to certain embodiments and figures below, all embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, although one or more embodiments may be discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also be used in accordance with the various embodiments of the invention discussed herein. In a similar fashion, although exemplary embodiments may be discussed below as apparatus, system, or method embodiments, it should be understood that such exemplary embodiments may be implemented in various apparatus, systems, and methods.

Description of drawings

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present disclosure may be realized with reference to the following drawings. In the drawings, similar components or features may have the same reference numerals. Additionally, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a second label that distinguishes among similar components. If only a first reference sign is used in the description, the description applies to any of the similar components having the same first reference sign irrespective of the second reference sign.

1 illustrates a block diagram of a computing device with a camera system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

2 shows a flowchart for capturing both short exposure data and long exposure data using the same pixels for HDR imaging, according to aspects of the present disclosure.

3A shows an example pixel array and timing diagram illustrating the timing of pixel exposure and pixel data capture in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

3B shows another example pixel array and timing diagram illustrating the timing of pixel exposure and pixel data capture in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

Detailed ways

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various possible configurations and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Rather, the detailed description contains specific details in order to provide a thorough understanding of the subject matter of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these specific details are not required in every instance.

Aspects of the present disclosure may result in improved camera systems for HDR image and video capture. For example, aspects of the present disclosure may include camera systems that capture short-exposure pixel data and long-exposure pixel data using the same pixels, which improves camera hardware efficiency and pixel efficiency, and reduces power consumption of the camera system.

1 illustrates a block diagram of a computing device 100 with a camera system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. By way of example and not limitation, device 100 may be a portable personal computing device, such as a mobile phone, smartphone, still camera, video camera, digital camera, tablet computer, hand-held computer, personal digital assistant, wearable computing device, home automation component, A digital video recorder, digital television, remote control, or some other type of device equipped with at least some image capture and/or image processing capabilities. Device 100 may also be a still computing device or any other device, such as a wireless communication device, used to obtain HDR images or video. In aspects of the present disclosure, apparatus 100 may be referred to as a camera apparatus. A number of applications are available to a user of device 100 that can use the HDR imaging techniques disclosed herein. It should be understood that device 100 may represent a physical camera device such as a digital camera, a particular physical hardware platform on which a camera application operates in software, or other combination of hardware and software configured to perform camera functions.

As shown in FIG. 1, device 100 may include processor 110, memory 120, user interface 130, and camera system component 140 (also referred to as camera system 140), all of which may be The means of communication are linked together. Processor 110 may comprise a single multipurpose processor, multiple processors operating in parallel, multiple processors performing different operations, or a combination of multiple processors operating in parallel and multiple processors performing different operations. For example, processor 110 may be configured to execute instructions to control camera system 140 , to perform image/video processing, and to perform various other operations to control aspects of device 100 and/or process data within device 100 . Processor 110 may include one or more general-purpose processors, such as microprocessors, and/or one or more special-purpose processors, such as digital signal processors (DSPs), graphics processing units (GPUs), floating point units (FPUs) ), network processors, or application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). In some cases, the dedicated processor may be an image processor capable of image processing, image alignment, and image merging, among other possible operations.

Memory 120 may include various types of volatile and/or non-volatile memory media for storing various types of information. For example, memory 120 may include a magnetic disk drive (eg, a floppy disk drive), a hard disk drive, an optical disk drive, or a magneto-optical disk drive, or may include solid state memory such as flash memory, RAM, ROM, and/or EEPROM. Memory 120 may also include multiple memory cells, any of which may be configured within device 100 or external to device 100 . For example, memory 120 may include ROM memory, which contains system program instructions stored within device 100 . Memory 120 may also include a memory card or high-speed memory that is configured to store captured images and that is removable from device 100 . Memory 120 may also be external to device 100, and in one example, device 100 may wirelessly transmit data to memory 120, eg, via a network connection. Memory 120 may include removable and/or non-removable components.

The memory 120 may be configured to store various types of information. For example, memory 120 may store data, such as image or video data obtained from camera system component 140 , data associated with the operating system of device 100 , and/or associated with applications that may run on device 100 . data. Memory 120 may also contain program instructions executable by processor 110 to perform processing related to application programs, an operating system, and/or controlling camera system components 140 . By way of example, program instructions stored in memory 120 may include an operating system, such as an operating system kernel, device drivers and/or other modules, and one or more applications installed on device 100, such as camera functions, address book , email, web browsing, social networking and/or gaming applications

Processor 110 may execute instructions from memory 120 or process data stored in memory 120 . For example, processor 110 may be capable of executing program instructions, such as compiled or uncompiled program logic and/or machine code, stored in memory 120 to perform various functions described herein. Accordingly, memory 120 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon program instructions that, when executed by computing device 100, cause computing device 100 to perform the methods disclosed in this specification and/or figures , process or function. Execution of program instructions by processor 110 may cause processor 110 to use data within memory 120 .

User interface 130 may be used to allow device 100 to interact with a human or non-human user in order to receive input from the user and provide output to the user. Accordingly, user interface 130 may include input components such as a keypad, keyboard, touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive panel, computer mouse, trackball, joystick, microphone, and the like. User interface 130 may also include one or more output components, such as a display screen, which may be combined, for example, with a presence-sensitive panel. The display screen may be based on cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal (LCD), light emitting diode (LED) and/or plasma technologies, or other technologies now known or later developed. In some aspects, user interface 130 may display a current image being captured by device 100, or possibly a digital representation of an image captured or most recently captured by device 100, eg, through a display screen. Thus, the user interface 130 may act as a viewfinder for the camera system 140 of the device 100 . For example, in some aspects, user interface 130 may include a display that acts as a viewfinder for still camera and/or video camera functions supported by computing device 100 . In some aspects, the display screen of the user interface 130 may also support a touch screen and/or presence-sensitive functionality that may be capable of adjusting the settings and/or configuration of any aspect of the camera system 140 . Additionally, user interface 130 may include one or more buttons, switches, knobs, and/or dials to facilitate configuration and focusing of camera functions and capture of images (eg, capturing pictures). It may be possible that some or all of these buttons, switch knobs and/or dials are implemented as functions on a presence sensitive panel. User interface 130 may also be configured to produce audible output via speakers, speaker jacks, audio output ports, audio output devices, headphones, and/or other similar devices.

The camera system components 140 may include, but are not limited to, an aperture through which light enters, a shutter that controls how long the light enters through the aperture, a shutter, a recording surface used to capture the light represented by the light The lens is positioned in front of the aperture to focus at least a portion of the image on the recording surface. The aperture can be fixed size or adjustable. The recording surface may include an electronic image sensor to transmit and/or store captured images in memory. An electronic image sensor may contain an array of photosensitive elements for converting incident light into electrical signals. For example, an electronic image sensor may include a charge coupled device (CCD), a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor, or any other image sensing device that receives light and generates image data in response to the received light.

The shutter may be coupled to or near the lens or recording surface. The shutter may be in a closed position in which light is blocked from reaching the recording surface, or an open position in which light is allowed to reach the recording surface. In some aspects, the position of the shutter may be controlled by a shutter button. For example, the shutter may be in the closed position by default. When the shutter button is triggered (eg, pressed), the shutter can change from a closed position to an open position over a period of time (referred to as a shutter cycle). During the shutter cycle, images can be captured on the recording surface. At the end of the shutter cycle, the shutter can be changed back to the closed position. Alternatively, shutter processing may be electronic. For example, before the electronic shutter of a CCD image sensor or CMOS image sensor "opens", the sensor can be reset to remove any residual signal in its photosensitive element. While the electronic shutter remains open, the photosensitive element converts incident light into electrical signals so that images can be captured on the recording surface. These electrical signals can be transferred to long-term storage when or after the shutter is closed. A combination of mechanical and electronic shutters may also be possible.

Regardless of the type of shutter, the shutter may be activated and/or controlled by something other than a shutter button. For example, the shutter may be activated and/or controlled by processor 110, a soft key, a timer, or some other trigger. As used herein, the term "image capture" may refer to any mechanical and/or electronic shutter process that causes one or more images to be recorded, regardless of how the shutter process is triggered or controlled. For example, a still camera may capture one or more images each time an image capture is triggered. The camera can continuously capture images at a specified rate of images or frames per second, as long as the trigger image capture is maintained. That is, the captured image may be a single image, multiple still images, or a video stream.

The exposure of the captured image can be determined by the size of the aperture, the brightness of the light entering the aperture, and the length of the shutter cycle (also known as shutter length or exposure length). Herein, the term "exposure time" or variations thereof may be interpreted to possibly refer to shutter length, exposure time (length of exposure time), or any other measure that controls the amount of signal response produced by light reaching the recording surface.

Although FIG. 1 depicts the device 100 having individual components, those skilled in the art will recognize that these individual components may be combined in various ways to achieve particular design goals. For example, in alternative aspects, memory component 120 may be combined with processor component 110 to save cost and/or improve performance.

In some aspects, any of camera system components 140 and exposure time may be controlled by processor 110 . For example, camera system component 140 may be at least partially controlled by processor 110 as processor 110 executes software. In particular, a camera may include software that controls one or more camera functions and/or settings, such as exposure time, aperture size, and the like. For example, image capture by device 100 may be triggered by processor 110, as well as by some other mechanism, such as by actuating a shutter button, by pressing a soft key on user interface 130, or by some other mechanism. In some aspects, software executable by processor 110 to control camera system components 140 may include some data and/or program instructions stored in memory 120 .

According to some aspects, camera device 100 may be used for HDR imaging. For example, to capture HDR images and video, camera device 100 may be configured to combine data from multiple exposures of the images. As an example, camera device 100 may combine short exposure pixel data with long exposure pixel data. In some aspects, camera apparatus 100 may be configured to capture both short exposure pixel data and long exposure pixel data using the same pixels to improve camera hardware and pixel efficiency, and reduce power consumption of the camera system.

2 shows a flowchart for capturing both short exposure data and long exposure data using the same pixels for HDR imaging, according to aspects of the present disclosure. Aspects of method 200 may be implemented with aspects of the present disclosure described with respect to FIG. 1 . Specifically, method 200 includes, at block 202, initiating exposure of a plurality of pixels available in the device. For example, under the control of the processor 110, the device 100 may be configured to initiate exposure of a plurality of pixels available in the camera system 140 of the device 100. At block 204, the method 200 includes capturing pixel data from a plurality of pixels to obtain short exposure pixel data after the first period of time has passed. For example, under the control of the processor 110, the device 100 may be configured to capture pixel data from a plurality of pixels to obtain short exposure pixel data after a first period of time has elapsed. At block 206, the method 200 includes capturing pixel data from a plurality of pixels to obtain long exposure pixel data after a second period of time that is longer than the first period of time. For example, under the control of the processor 110, the device 100 may be configured to capture pixel data from a plurality of pixels to obtain long exposure pixel data after a second period of time that is longer than the first period of time.

3A shows an example pixel array and timing diagram illustrating the timing of pixel exposure and pixel data capture in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, such as the aspects disclosed in method 200 . As illustrated in Figure 3A, the plurality of pixels may include a pixel array 310 having rows 312a-d and columns 314a-d of pixels. The pixel array illustrated in FIG. 3A is provided for illustrative purposes only because, as those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, a pixel array may contain more or less than four rows, more or less than four columns, and need not be Being two-dimensional, for example, the pixel array may be three-dimensional, four-dimensional, etc.

In some aspects, pixel array 310 may correspond to the recording surface on which images are captured as described with reference to FIG. 1 . For example, pixel values in pixel array 310 may correspond to one or more values representing electrical signals obtained via one or more photosensitive elements of the recording surface. In other words, the pixels in pixel array 310 may correspond to pixels representing the presence on one or more of the photosensitive elements of the recording surface after the photosensitive elements of the recording surface have been exposed to light and have converted the incident light into electrical signals The digital value of one or more electrical signals. Thus, in some aspects, initiating exposure of a plurality of pixels, eg, at block 202 of method 200, may refer to initiating light capture by the photosensitive elements of the recording surface and correspondingly encoding the corresponding pixels with digital values of brightness and/or color.

The captured image can be represented as a one-dimensional, two-dimensional or multi-dimensional pixel array. For example, in the aspect illustrated in FIG. 3A , the captured image is represented as a two-dimensional pixel array 310 . Each pixel may be represented by one or more values that may encode the color and/or brightness of the corresponding pixel. In some aspects, possible pixel encodings may be based on one or more of various color models such as RGGB, RGBN, RGB, CMYK, YCbCr, YUV, and YIQ, as well as other encodings now known or later developed. Additionally, pixels in an image can be represented in a variety of file formats, including raw (uncompressed) formats, or compressed formats such as Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), Portable Network Graphics (PNG), Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), etc. .

In some aspects, each of the color and luminance channels may be associated with a value representing color or luminance. Thus, the brightness of a pixel may be represented by a value of 0 or near 0 if the pixel is black or near black, and a maximum value or a value near the maximum if the pixel is white or near white. For example, if each of the color and/or luminance channels are represented by 8 bits, then a black or near-black pixel may have a value of 0 or near 0, and a white or near-white pixel may have a value of 255 or A value close to 255. Similarly, if each of the color and/or luminance channels are represented by 10 bits, then black or near-black pixels may have a value of 0 or near 0, and white or near-white pixels may have a value of 1023 or near 1023 value of . In other aspects, pixel values may be flipped so that values near 0 are associated with pixels near white, and values near maximum are associated with pixels near black.

According to some aspects, the brightness of a pixel, and thus the brightness value associated with the pixel, may be a function of the exposure time of the pixel. For example, short exposure times of pixels can result in fairly accurate representations of bright areas of the scene. Conversely, long exposure times for pixels can result in fairly accurate representations of dark areas of the scene.

In the aspect illustrated in FIG. 3A, timing diagrams 320a and 320d illustrate how a camera system may be controlled in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure to capture both short exposure data and long exposure data using the same pixels for HDR imaging. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that although only timing diagrams 320a and 320d are provided in FIG. 3A for illustrative purposes only, in general, each row 312a-d may be associated with a different timing diagram 320a-d. In some aspects, the camera device may be configured to determine the long exposure time T2 for all pixels of the pixel array 310, eg, by the processor 110 of the camera device 100 of FIG. For example, a long exposure time T2 may be set to an exposure time that produces pixel values that are fairly accurate representations of dark areas in the image to be captured. The value to which the long exposure time T2 is set may vary for different image captures based on various factors: the desired quality of the image to be captured, the dynamic range of the brightness of the image to be captured, and/or the metric used by the camera device to determine the long exposure time T2 , such metrics as pixel value mean, pixel value thresholds, and/or weights assigned to pixels in the pixel array. Thus, the term for long exposure time T2 that is considered to produce pixel values that are reasonably accurate representations of dark areas may vary based on various factors such as those previously mentioned for determining long exposure time T2. In some aspects, the long exposure time T2 may be specified by the user, eg, by the user providing input on the camera device. In other aspects, the long exposure time T2 may be determined by the camera device, and the user may modify the device-determined long exposure time T2.

Similarly, the camera device may be configured to determine the short exposure time T1 for all pixels of the pixel array 310 , eg, by the processor 110 of the camera device 100 of FIG. 1 . For example, a short exposure time T1 may be set to an exposure time that is an exposure time of pixel values that is a fairly accurate representation of the bright areas in the image to be captured. The value to which the short exposure time T1 is set may vary for different image captures based on various factors: the desired quality of the image to be captured, the dynamic range of the brightness of the image to be captured, and/or the metric used by the camera device to determine the short exposure time T1 , such metrics as pixel value mean, pixel value thresholds, and/or weights assigned to pixels in the pixel array. Thus, the term for short exposure time T1 that is considered to produce pixel values that are reasonably accurate representations of bright areas may vary based on various factors such as those previously mentioned for determining short exposure time T1 . In some aspects, the short exposure time T1 may be specified by the user, eg, by the user providing input on the camera device. In other aspects, the short exposure time T1 may be determined by the camera device, and the user may modify the short exposure time T1 determined by the device. Referring to method 200 , short exposure time T1 may refer to a first time period disclosed at block 204 , and long exposure time T2 may refer to a second time period disclosed at 206 that is longer than the first time period.

According to some aspects, the values of short exposure time T1 and long exposure time T2 may be determined based at least in part on a frame rate associated with the camera device, which may be expressed as frames per second (FPS). For example, according to some aspects, a camera device may be configured to maintain a minimum frame rate _FPSmin . In some aspects, the camera device may be configured to set the long exposure time T2 to a value less than 1/(FPS _min ). By way of example and not limitation, a camera device may be configured to maintain a minimum frame rate of 15 FPS. Based on the minimum frame rate of 15FPS, the camera device may set the maximum value of the long exposure time T2 to a value of 66.66ms. In other aspects, the camera device may set the long exposure time T2 to a value less than 66.66ms, such as 65ms, 60ms, 50ms, and the like. For example, the camera device may set the long exposure time T2 to a value less than 66.66 ms to meet certain camera specifications. According to some aspects, the short exposure time T1 may be determined in a manner similar to the way the long exposure time T2 is determined. For example, the camera device may be configured to set the short exposure time T1 to a value less than 1/(FPS _min ). As an additional constraint on the short exposure time T1, the camera device may be configured to set the short exposure time T1 to a value that is less than whatever value the long exposure time T2 is set to. In some aspects, short exposure time T1 may be a fraction of long exposure time T2, although in general, short exposure time T1 need not be a fraction of long exposure time T2. In other aspects, the short exposure time T1 may be set to meet certain camera specifications.

In some aspects, the camera apparatus may be configured to determine values for short exposure time Tl and long exposure time T2, eg, by processor 110 of camera apparatus 100 of FIG. 1, based at least in part on analysis of the scene in which the image or video was captured. For example, the camera device may be configured to implement a scene analysis algorithm that analyzes the scene of the captured image or video and then determines short exposure times T1 and long exposure times T2 that produce reasonably accurate representations of the bright and dark areas of the scene, respectively appropriate value. In some aspects, a scene analysis algorithm may include analysis of a histogram associated with the scene.

Referring back to timing diagrams 320a and 320d, at time TO, the camera device may begin exposure of pixel array 310, eg, at block 202 of method 200, eg, under control of a processor. For example, at time TO, the camera device may control the shutter of the camera device and/or the aperture of the camera device to allow light to reach the photosensitive elements corresponding to the recording surface of the camera device of pixel array 310 . After exposure is initiated, the pixels in pixel array 310 may begin to be encoded with luminance and/or color values. For example, pixel array 310 may correspond to the recording surface on which images are captured as described with reference to FIG. 1 . In other words, pixel values in pixel array 310 may correspond to one or more values representing electrical signals obtained via one or more photosensitive elements of the recording surface. Thus, in some aspects, commencing exposure of a plurality of pixels, such as at block 202 of method 200, may refer to passing light through a photosensitive element of the recording surface, such as by controlling the shutter of the camera device and/or the aperture of the camera device to allow light to reach the recording surface. Photosensitive elements, light capture is initiated, and the corresponding pixels are correspondingly encoded with luminance and/or color values based on electrical signals on the photosensitive elements of the recording surface generated by converting light into electrical signals by the photosensitive elements of the recording surface.

After commencing exposure of pixels in pixel array 310, the camera device may capture pixel data to obtain a short exposure after a short exposure time T1 from time TO, eg, at block 204 of method 200, eg, under control of a processor pixel data. Specifically, at point 330 (eg, 330a, 330d) of timing diagram 320 (eg, 320a, 320d), only a short exposure time T1 has elapsed since time TO. Therefore, all pixel values of pixel array 310 may provide short exposure pixel data. Thus, after a short exposure time T1, for example at points 330a, 330d of timing diagrams 320a, 320d, the camera device may, for example, under control of a processor, by reading out all pixel values of pixel array 310 and storing them, for example, Within the memory of the camera device, short exposure pixel data is captured. Pixel values captured after a short exposure time T1, ie, pixel values read from pixel array 310 at points 330a, 330d of timing diagrams 320a, 320d, may thus provide the short exposure disclosed at block 204 of method 200. Expose pixel data.

Similarly, as disclosed at block 206 of method 200, the camera device may also capture pixel data to obtain long exposure pixel data after a long exposure time T2 has elapsed since time TO, eg, under control of a processor. Specifically, at point 340 (eg, 340a, 340d) of timing diagram 320 (eg, 320a, 320d), long exposure time T2 has elapsed since time TO. Therefore, all pixel values of pixel array 310 may provide long exposure pixel data. Thus, after a long exposure time T2, for example at points 340a, 340d of timing diagrams 320a, 320d, the camera device may, for example, under control of a processor, by reading out all pixel values of pixel array 310 and storing them, for example, Within the memory of the camera device, long exposure pixel data is captured. Pixel values captured after a long exposure time T2, ie, pixel values read from pixel array 310 at points 340a, 340d of timing diagrams 320a, 320d, may thus provide the long exposure disclosed at block 206 of method 200. Expose pixel data.

According to some aspects, pixel data may be captured one row at a time, eg, at block 204 and/or block 206 of method 200 . For example, in FIG. 3B described next, pixel data may be read out from row 312a before pixel data is read out from row 312c. In other aspects, pixel data may be read out from all pixels, as opposed to one row at a time. For example, in FIG. 3A, pixel data may be read out from all rows 312a-d at times 330 (eg, 330a, 330d) and/or 340 (eg, 340a, 340d) of timing diagram 320 .

3B shows another example pixel array and timing diagram illustrating the timing of pixel exposure and pixel data capture in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, such as the aspect disclosed in method 200 . In the aspect illustrated in FIG. 3B, timing diagram 360 illustrates how a camera system may be controlled to capture both short exposure data and long exposure data using the same pixels for HDR imaging in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. As with FIG. 3A, the pixel array illustrated in FIG. 3B is provided for illustrative purposes only because, as those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, pixel arrays may include more or less than four rows, more or less than four and need not be two-dimensional, eg, the pixel array may be three-dimensional, four-dimensional, etc.

In timing diagram 360 (eg, 360a-360d), at time TO, the camera device may begin exposure of corresponding rows 312 of pixel array 310, eg, at block 202 of method 200, eg, under control of a processor. For example, at time TO of timing diagram 360a, the camera device may control the camera device's shutter and/or the camera device's aperture to allow light to reach the photosensitive elements of the camera device's recording surface corresponding to row 312a of pixel array 310. Similarly, at time TO of timing diagram 360d, the camera device may control the camera device's shutter and/or the camera device's aperture to allow light to reach the photosensitive elements of the camera device's recording surface corresponding to row 312d of pixel array 310. As described with respect to FIG. 3A, after exposure in a particular row 312 is initiated, the pixels in a particular row 312 of pixel array 310 may begin to be encoded with luminance and/or color values. Thus, in some aspects, initiating exposure of a plurality of pixels, eg, at block 202 of method 200, may refer to initiating light capture by the photosensitive elements of one or more rows 312 of recording surface 310 and pairing one with luminance and/or color values. Corresponding pixels in one or more rows 312 are correspondingly encoded.

After commencing exposure of the pixels in pixel array 310 of FIG. 3B , the camera device may capture pixel data after a short exposure time T1 from time T0 , eg, at block 204 of method 200 , eg, under control of a processor, to Get short exposure pixel data. Specifically, at point 330a of timing diagram 360a, only a short exposure time T1 has elapsed since time TO. Thus, all pixel values of row 312a of pixel array 310 may provide short exposure pixel data. Thus, after a short exposure time T1 has elapsed, such as at point 330c of timing diagram 360c, the camera device may, for example, under control of a processor, by reading out all pixel values of the pixels in row 312c of pixel array 310 and Stored, for example, in the memory of the camera device, capturing short exposure pixel data. Pixel values captured after a short exposure time T1, ie, pixel values read from row 312c of pixel array 310 at point 330c of timing diagram 360c, may thus provide the disclosed at block 204 of method 200 Short exposure pixel data.

Similarly, as disclosed at block 206 of method 200, the camera device may also capture pixel data to obtain long exposure pixel data after a long exposure time T2 has elapsed since time TO, eg, under control of a processor. Specifically, at point 340a of timing diagram 360a, long exposure time T2 has elapsed since time TO. Thus, all pixel values of row 312a of pixel array 310 may provide long exposure pixel data. Thus, after a long exposure time T2 has elapsed, such as at point 340c of timing diagram 360c, the camera device may, for example, under control of a processor, by reading out all pixel values of the pixels in row 312c of pixel array 310 and For example, stored in the memory of the camera device, capturing long exposure pixel data. The pixel values captured after the long exposure time T2, ie, the pixel values read from the pixels in row 312c of pixel array 310 at point 340c of timing diagram 360c, may thus be provided as disclosed at block 206 of method 200 of long-exposure pixel data.

In some aspects, readout from pixel array 310 may be performed one row at a time, regardless of whether pixel exposures are initiated simultaneously as illustrated in FIG. 3A or at different times for different rows as illustrated in FIG. 3B pixel data. For example, in one aspect, pixel data may be read out first from row 312a, followed by pixel data from row 312b, and so on. In some aspects, such pixel readout may be referred to as rolling shutter readout. Therefore, when a readout time is reached, such as time T1 for reading out short exposure pixel data in FIG. 3A or 3B or time T2 for reading out long exposure pixel data in FIG. 3A or 3B, certain rows can be read out in parallel at the same time of all pixel data.

As a specific example of a rolling shutter readout process when pixel exposures are initiated simultaneously as illustrated in FIG. 3A, after a short exposure time T1 has elapsed, all pixels in the entire pixel array 310 illustrated in FIG. 3A may contain short exposure pixels data. Using a rolling shutter readout process, immediately after a short exposure time T1 has elapsed, all pixel values of pixels in row 312a may be read out first, followed by all pixel values of pixels in row 312b, followed by readout of pixels in row 312c. All pixel values, etc. Similarly, after the long exposure time T2 has elapsed, all pixels in the entire pixel array 310 illustrated in FIG. 3A may contain long exposure pixel data. Using a rolling shutter readout process, immediately after the long exposure time T2 has elapsed, all pixel values of the pixels in row 312a may be read out first, followed by all pixel values of the pixels in row 312b, followed by readout of the pixels in row 312c. All pixel values, etc.

As a specific example of the rolling shutter readout process when pixel exposures are started at different times for different rows as illustrated in Figure 3B, the orientation 330a on the timing diagram 360a has been identified for row 312a in Figure 3B After a short exposure time T1, all pixels in row 312a of pixel array 310 illustrated in FIG. 3B may contain short exposure pixel data. Using a rolling shutter readout process, immediately after the short exposure time T1 identified by orientation 330a has elapsed, all pixel values for the pixels in row 312a may first be read out. After a short time, all pixels in row 312b of pixel array 310 illustrated in FIG. 3B may contain short exposure times T1 identified by orientation 330b on timing diagram 360b for row 312b in FIG. 3B. The pixel data is exposed and all pixel values for the pixels in row 312b can be read. The process may continue for each subsequent row in turn until short exposure pixel data has been read out from each row in pixel array 310 illustrated in Figure 3B.

Similarly, all pixels in row 312a of pixel array 310 illustrated in Figure 3B may contain long exposure pixels after long exposure time T2 identified by orientation 340a on timing diagram 360a for row 312a in Figure 3B has elapsed data. Using a rolling shutter readout process, immediately after the long exposure time T2 identified by orientation 340a has elapsed, all pixel values for the pixels in row 312a may first be read out. After a short time, all pixels in row 312b of pixel array 310 illustrated in FIG. 3B may contain long exposure times T2 identified by orientation 340b on timing diagram 360b for row 312b in FIG. 3B. The pixel data is exposed and all pixel values for the pixels in row 312b can be read. The process may continue for each subsequent row in turn until long exposure pixel data has been read out from each row in pixel array 310 illustrated in Figure 3B.

According to some aspects, the camera system component 140 of the computing device 100 of FIG. 1 may additionally include one or more latches and one or more analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) for performing the pixel readout process. For example, in one aspect, each row of pixel array 310 may be associated with two latches and one ADC. In this aspect, when a short exposure time T1 for a particular row, such as row 312a, is reached, pixel data in each of the pixels of row 312a may be latched into a first latch associated with row 312a. The short exposure pixel data in the latches can be passed to the ADC assigned to row 312a to convert the analog short exposure pixel data into digital pixel data that can then be stored and digitally processed. Because the ADC may process pixel data that has been latched, in some aspects the ADC may not process or access or alter active pixel data in the pixels of row 312a. Thus, in some aspects, while the ADC is processing latched data, the pixels in row 312a may not be reset and may instead continue to be exposed and thus continue to update their pixel data based on continued exposure. When the long exposure time T2 for row 312a is reached, the pixel data in each of the pixels of row 312a may again be latched into the second latch associated with row 312a. The long exposure pixel data in the latches can be passed to the ADC assigned to row 312a to convert the analog long exposure pixel data into digital pixel data that can then be stored and digitally processed. This procedure can be performed for each row. In such aspects where each row of pixel array 310 may be associated with two latches and one ADC, one latch for capturing short exposure pixel data after time T1 and the other latch for capturing short exposure pixel data after time T1 Long exposure pixel data is captured after T2, and the pixel data readout time for a row may correspond to the latching time required by the latch plus the A/D conversion time required by the ADC.

In another aspect, each row of pixel array 310 may be associated with two latches and two ADCs, one latch and ADC for capturing and converting short exposure pixel data after time T1, and the other Latches and ADCs are used to capture and convert long exposure pixel data after time T2. In this aspect, when a short exposure time T1 for a particular row, such as row 312a, is reached, pixel data in each of the pixels of row 312a may be latched into a first latch associated with row 312a. The short exposure pixel data in the first latch may be transferred to the first ADC assigned to row 312a to convert the analog short exposure pixel data to digital pixel data that may then be stored and digitally processed. In some aspects, while the ADC is processing the latched data, the pixels in row 312a may not be reset and may instead continue to be exposed and thus continue to update their pixel data based on the continued exposure. When the long exposure time T2 for row 312a is reached, the pixel data in each of the pixels of row 312a may again be latched into the second latch associated with row 312a. The long exposure pixel data in the second latch may be transferred to a second ADC assigned to row 312a to convert the analog long exposure pixel data into digital pixel data that may then be stored and digitally processed. This procedure can be performed for each row. In such aspects where each row of pixel array 310 may be associated with two latches and two ADCs, the pixel data readout time for a row may correspond to the latching time required by the latches plus the time required by the ADCs required A/D conversion time.

In yet another aspect, each row of pixel array 310 may be associated with two latches, one for capturing short exposure pixel data after time T1 and the other for capturing long exposure after time T2 Expose pixel data. Additionally, only two ADCs may be included for the entire pixel array 310, one ADC for converting short exposure pixel data from either row, ie, the most recently captured short exposure pixel data, and another ADC for converting short exposure pixel data from either row is the long-exposure pixel data of the most recently captured long-exposure pixel data. In this aspect, when a short exposure time T1 for a particular row, such as row 312a, is reached, pixel data in each of the pixels of row 312a may be latched into a first latch associated with row 312a. The short exposure pixel data in the first latch may be transferred to a first ADC assigned to pixel array 310 to convert the analog short exposure pixel data into digital pixel data that may then be stored and digitally processed. In some aspects, while the ADC is processing the latched data, the pixels in row 312a may not be reset and may instead continue to be exposed and thus continue to update their pixel data based on the continued exposure. When the long exposure time T2 for row 312a is reached, the pixel data in each of the pixels of row 312a may again be latched into the second latch associated with row 312a. The long exposure pixel data in the second latch can be transferred to a second ADC assigned to pixel array 310 to convert the analog long exposure pixel data into digital pixel data that can then be stored and digitally processed. This procedure can be performed for each row. Thus, in some aspects, while the first ADC may be converting short exposure pixel data from the first row, the second ADC may be converting long exposure pixel data from the second row. In such aspects where each row of pixel array 310 may be associated with two latches while only two ADCs may be included for the entire pixel array 310, the pixel data readout time for a row may correspond to the latch The latch time required by the converter plus the A/D conversion time required by the ADC.

In some aspects, each row of pixel array 310 may be associated with only a single latch that latches short exposure pixel data after time T1. A separate latch that latches long exposure data after time T2 may not be included. In this regard, as previously discussed, when a short exposure time T1 is reached for a particular row, such as row 312a, pixel data in each of the pixels of row 312a may be latched into a latch associated with row 312a in the converter and then passed to an ADC to convert the analog short exposure pixel data into digital pixel data that can then be stored and digitally processed. When the long exposure time T2 of row 312a is reached, the pixel data in each of the pixels of row 312a may be transferred directly to the ADC, converting the analog long exposure pixel data into a form that can then be used by the ADC without first being latched. Storage and digital processing of digital pixel data.

In some aspects, such as the aspect illustrated in FIG. 3A or 3B, the pixels from which the long exposure pixel data is obtained may be the same as the pixels from which the short exposure pixel data is obtained. For example, as illustrated in Figure 3A or 3B, short exposure pixel data and long exposure pixel data may be obtained from all pixels in pixel array 310. In other words, in aspects of the present disclosure, some pixels may not be designated to capture only short exposure pixel data, while other pixels are designated to capture only long exposure pixel data. Alternatively, in aspects of the present disclosure, pixels may be used to obtain both short exposure pixel data and long exposure data.

Similarly, in some aspects, such as the aspect illustrated in FIG. 3A or 3B, the exposed plurality of pixels may include substantially all of the pixels available in the device. That is, a pixel array such as pixel array 310 used to capture an image may represent all or substantially all of the pixels available in a camera device. For example, in the aspect illustrated in FIG. 3A or 3B, the camera device includes a pixel array 310 of 16 pixels and all 16 pixels are used to capture short exposure data and long exposure data. In other aspects, the pixel array of the camera device may include a different number of pixels and the camera device may capture both short exposure data and long exposure data using all or substantially all pixels of the pixel array.

According to some aspects, such as the aspects illustrated in FIG. 3A or 3B, short exposure pixel data and long exposure pixel data may be obtained from a single sequential exposure of multiple pixels. In other words, in timing diagram 320 or 360 , after a short exposure time T1 has elapsed at point 330 , exposure of one or more rows of pixel array 310 may continue without stopping at point 330 . Alternatively, at point 330 of timing diagram 320 or 360, the camera device may read out the instantaneous values of the pixels in one or more rows of pixel array 310 as exposure continues. In other words, at point 330, a snapshot of the values of all pixels in one or more rows of pixel array 310 may be read out as exposure continues until long exposure time T2 has elapsed.

In certain aspects, multiple pixels may be reset, such as pixel array 310 in Figures 3A or 3B. For example, in one aspect of the present disclosure, a plurality of pixels, ie, one or more rows or all rows of pixel array 310, may be reset only after short exposure data and long exposure data have been obtained from the plurality of pixels. In other words, the pixel array 310 may be reset at point 340 of the timing diagram 320 or 360 after the long exposure time T2 has elapsed and long exposure pixel data has been obtained from one or more or all rows of the pixel array 310 The value of one or more rows or all rows. In another aspect of the present disclosure, one or more or all rows of pixel array 310 may be reset before short exposure data and long exposure data have been obtained from one or more or all rows of pixel array 310 . For example, one or more rows or all rows of pixel array 310 may be reset before time TO or just before exposure begins at time TO. In yet other aspects of the present disclosure, one or more or all rows of pixel array 310 may precede short exposure pixel data and long exposure pixel data having been obtained from one or more or all rows of pixel array 310, eg Reset at or near time TO, and/or after short exposure pixel data and long exposure pixel data have been obtained from one or more or all rows of pixel array 310, such as at point 340 on timing diagram 320 or 360 reset at or near. One or more or all rows of pixel array 310 are not reset at any point after short exposure pixel data has been obtained, but before long exposure pixel data has been obtained. That is, one or more rows or all rows of pixel array 310 are not reset between points 330 and 340 on timing diagram 320 or 360 .

One or more or all rows of pixel array 310 are reset at or near point 340 after long exposure time T2 has elapsed and long exposure pixel data has been obtained from one or more or all rows of pixel array 310 When resetting multiple pixels, such as one or more rows or all rows of pixel array 310, the captured short-exposure pixel data and the captured long-exposure pixel data may be output for post-image and/or video use deal with. For example, in some aspects, before resetting one or more or all rows of pixel array 310 at or near point 340 on timing diagram 320 or 360, the captured short exposure pixel data and the captured long exposure Exposure pixel data may be output from the one or more ADCs, eg, serially or in parallel, to the camera device's memory so that the camera device's processor can access the short-exposure pixel data and the long-exposure pixel data for image and/or video processing . In some aspects of the present disclosure, the short-exposure pixel data may be output to memory at or near time 330 after the short-exposure pixel data has been obtained from one or more or all rows of pixel array 310, and may be After obtaining long exposure pixel data from one or more rows or all rows of pixel array 310, the long exposure pixel data is output to memory at or near time 340. In some aspects, the camera device may combine the short exposure pixel data with the long exposure pixel data to produce an HDR image or HDR video, eg, under the control of the processor 110 . In other words, the processor of the camera device may access the short exposure pixel data and the long exposure pixel data and perform image processing on the short exposure pixel data and the long exposure pixel data to generate an HDR image or HDR video. In some aspects, processing may include identifying short exposure data and long exposure data according to a standardized protocol, such as the MIPI CSI-2 standardized protocol, using a data type (DT) parameter.

In timing diagram 320 in FIG. 3A, exposure start time T0 is the same for all rows 312 of pixel array 310, short exposure time T1 is the same for all rows 312 of pixel array 310, and long exposure time T2 is the same for all rows 312 of pixel array 310 All rows 312 of 310 are identical. Thus, short exposure data is obtained from all pixels in pixel array 310 at approximately the same time and long exposure data is obtained from all pixels in pixel array 310 at approximately the same time. In other aspects, any of exposure start time TO (see FIG. 3B ), short exposure time T1 , and long exposure time T2 may be different for different rows. For example, in the aspect illustrated in FIG. 3B , the exposure start time T0 for row 312a of pixel array 310 in timing diagram 360a may be different from the exposure start time T0 for row 312d of pixel array 310 in timing diagram 360d time T0. Thus, in this aspect, while both short exposure data and long exposure data are still obtained from each pixel, the capture of short exposure data and the capture of long exposure data may occur at different times for the pixels in rows 312a and 312d, This is because the exposure start times T0 thereof are different. Similarly, the short exposure time T1 and the long exposure time T2 of the row may be different. Both short and long exposure data can be obtained from each pixel regardless of whether the exposure start time TO, short exposure time T1 and/or long exposure time T2 are the same or varied for different rows.

General purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components or their designed Performing any combination of the functions described herein implements or executes the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described herein in connection with the present disclosure. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described herein in connection with the present disclosure may be implemented directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral with the processor. The processor and storage medium may reside in the ASIC. The ASIC may reside in the user terminal. In the alternative, the processor and storage medium may reside in the user terminal as discrete components.

In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, solid state, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Computer-readable storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage, or may be used to carry or store instructions or data The desired program code means in a structured form and any other medium that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer or a general purpose or special purpose processor. Also, a connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or digital subscriber line (DSL), the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair or DSL is included in the definition of media. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), hard disk, solid-state disk blu-ray disc, where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, and discs are Lasers reproduce data optically. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

As used in the claims contained herein, the term "and/or" when used in a list of two or more items means that any of the listed items can be employed individually or can be employed Any combination of two or more of the listed items. For example, if a composition is described as containing components A, B, and/or C, the composition may contain: A only; B only; C only; a combination of A and B; a combination of A and C; A combination of B and C; or a combination of A, B, and C. Also, as used herein, including the claims, "or" as used in a list of items ending with "at least one of" indicates a discrete list such that, for example, "at least one of A, B, or C" A list of means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (ie, A and B and C), or any of these in any combination thereof.

Although the present disclosure and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, the scope of this application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods, and steps described in this specification. As those skilled in the art will readily appreciate from this disclosure, currently available or currently available devices that perform substantially the same functions or achieve substantially the same results as the corresponding embodiments described herein can be utilized in accordance with this disclosure. A machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, method or step later developed. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.

Claims (28)

1. A method for high dynamic range HDR imaging, comprising: Initiating, by the processor, exposure of a plurality of pixels available in the device; after a first period of time has elapsed, capturing, by the processor, pixel data from the plurality of pixels to obtain short exposure pixel data; and After a second period of time that is longer than the first period of time, pixel data is captured by the processor from the plurality of pixels to obtain long-exposure pixel data. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the pixel from which the long exposure pixel data is obtained is the same as the pixel from which the short exposure pixel data is obtained. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of pixels exposed comprises substantially all pixels available in the device. 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising resetting the plurality of pixels, wherein the plurality of pixels are reset only after short exposure data and long exposure data have been obtained from the plurality of pixels. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the short exposure pixel data and the long exposure pixel data are obtained from a single consecutive exposure of the plurality of pixels. 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising outputting the captured short exposure pixel data and the captured long exposure pixel data for image or video prior to resetting the plurality of pixels post-processing. 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising combining the short exposure pixel data with the long exposure pixel data to generate an HDR image or an HDR video. 8. An apparatus configured to perform high dynamic range HDR imaging, comprising: means for initiating exposure of a plurality of pixels available in the device; means for capturing pixel data from the plurality of pixels to obtain short exposure pixel data after a first period of time; and Means for capturing pixel data from the plurality of pixels to obtain long exposure pixel data after a second period of time longer than the first period of time. 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the pixel from which the long exposure pixel data is obtained is the same as the pixel from which the short exposure pixel data is obtained. 10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the plurality of pixels exposed comprises substantially all pixels available in the device. 11. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising means for resetting the plurality of pixels, wherein the plurality of pixels are reset only after short exposure data and long exposure data have been obtained from the plurality of pixels. pixels. 12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the short exposure pixel data and the long exposure pixel data are obtained from a single consecutive exposure of the plurality of pixels. 13. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising means for outputting the captured short exposure pixel data and the captured long exposure pixel data for an image prior to resetting the plurality of pixels Or a device for video post-processing. 14. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising means for combining the short exposure pixel data with the long exposure pixel data to generate an HDR image or an HDR video. 15. A non-transitory computer readable medium having program code recorded thereon for performing high dynamic range HDR imaging, the program code comprising: Program code executable by a computer to cause the computer to: Initiate exposure of a plurality of pixels available in the device; after the first period of time has elapsed, capturing pixel data from the plurality of pixels to obtain short exposure pixel data; and After a second period of time that is longer than the first period of time, pixel data is captured from the plurality of pixels to obtain long-exposure pixel data. 16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the pixel from which the long exposure pixel data is obtained is the same as the pixel from which the short exposure pixel data is obtained. 17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the plurality of pixels exposed comprises substantially all pixels available in the device. 18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the program code additionally comprises program code for causing the computer to reset the plurality of pixels, wherein The plurality of pixels are reset after the pixel obtains the short exposure data and the long exposure data. 19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the short exposure pixel data and the long exposure pixel data are obtained from a single consecutive exposure of the plurality of pixels. 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the program code additionally comprises means for causing the computer to output the captured short-exposure pixel data prior to resetting the plurality of pixels and the captured long-exposure pixel data for image or video post-processing program code. 21. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the program code additionally comprises means for causing the computer to combine the short exposure pixel data with the long exposure pixel data to generate an HDR image or Program code for HDR video. 22. An apparatus configured to perform high dynamic range HDR imaging, the apparatus comprising: memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: Initiate exposure of a plurality of pixels available in the device; after the first period of time has elapsed, capturing pixel data from the plurality of pixels to obtain short exposure pixel data; and After a second period of time that is longer than the first period of time, pixel data is captured from the plurality of pixels to obtain long-exposure pixel data. 23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the pixel from which the long exposure pixel data is obtained is the same as the pixel from which the short exposure pixel data is obtained. 24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the plurality of pixels exposed comprises substantially all pixels available in the device. 25. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to reset the plurality of pixels, wherein the reset is performed only after short exposure data and long exposure data have been obtained from the plurality of pixels. position the plurality of pixels. 26. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the short exposure pixel data and the long exposure pixel data are obtained from a single consecutive exposure of the plurality of pixels. 27. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to output the captured short exposure pixel data and the captured long exposure prior to resetting the plurality of pixels Pixel data for image or video post-processing. 28. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the program code additionally comprises program code for causing the computer to combine the short exposure pixel data with the long exposure pixel data to generate an HDR image or an HDR video.

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